Bad influences
by LadyMow
Summary: Rumours are accepted as fact. Bulma is abondoned until she is taken in by a group of oucasts at her school and all the problems start there...
1. Meeting Hope

Butterfly  
  
Bulma Briefs walked confidently into her English classroom and took her usual seat - one from the end on the back row. The Teacher - Mrs Dixon - followed in a moment later with a dark haired girl in tow. She turned on her heel to face the class and Bulma noticed the ever-present twitch on Mrs Dixon's face surface.  
  
"Class!" she shouted above the class' noise. She waited for the chatter to die down before starting again, "This young lady is your new classmate. Her name is Hope and you shall treat her with care and respect."  
  
Turning to face the smirking face of Hope she commanded, "You will sit there. Last desk on the back row."  
  
Hope's gaze followed the teachers to see her seat. She slinked over to her desk, dropped her bag and sat down.  
  
"Hi. I'm Bulma. Pleased to meet you."  
  
"Hi. I am, as previously stated, Hope."  
  
"Ms Briefs, I don't want you to try and get our new student in trouble in her first class by yapping throughout my lesson."  
  
"Sorry Mrs Dixon."  
  
The teacher carried on instructing the class and eventually exited the room.  
  
"Where's she gone?" asked Hope to no one in particular. Bulma chose to answer her.  
  
"Either for a quick smoke or a short fuck with a geography teacher - male or female."  
  
"Ew."  
  
A few seconds passed. A fly entered the classroom but not much else happened  
  
"And what's with the twitch?"  
  
"It's her coffee demon. I named him George. He chooses to surface at any moment. Sometimes he gets so bad she has to go outside till it stops. It's 'cos she drinks so much coffee."  
  
"Freaky."  
  
"Uhuh."  
  
"Bulma. Are you going to this party tonight? The one ate Tristan's. I think that was his name anyway."  
  
"I might."  
  
Before she could explain why the teacher returned. Her grey hair was a mess and she was missing a red button on her orange shirt. You would have to have been blind not to spot the pack of cigarettes in her pocket.  
  
"So," she said breathlessly, "I'll be coming round to check your poems.  
  
"Oh shit! I haven't."  
  
The teacher materialised by her side. "First of all, Ms Briefs, I do not expect you to use that kind of language, and second of all, where is your poem?"  
  
Before Bulma could form a believable excuse Mrs Dixon said, "You've been talking, haven't you? How selfish of you to have stopped Hope writing hers as well. Go to the Principals office!"  
  
Bulma slung her bag up on her shoulder, picked up her books and wandered out of the classroom.  
  
"A definite bad start to the day," she muttered to herself.  
  
Her footsteps echoed down the empty corridor.  
I wuv reviews you know. 


	2. Crimson Liquid

Butterfly  
  
The day got progressively worse for me. It seemed I had forgotten my Advanced physics homework, lost my lunch money, I tripped up on the stairs and lost one of my diamond earrings. I've realised that it's always the small things that really fuck up your day.  
  
Obviously the Fates were against me because my day got much, much worse.  
  
I had arrived home late, as there had been road works on my route and before I could reverse out, there was a car behind me. I sat for half an hour listening to some crappy pop music on the radio with the guy in the car next to me eyeing me up. Not my idea of fun.  
  
I skipped up the steep stairs two at a time, as I was so relieved to be to home. I turned up my music loud (no one was at home, as per usual) and collapsed onto my bed. I was just drifting off to sleep (my favourite state of mind) when the phone rang.  
  
I groaned, rolled over and pulled the phone of to talk to the prick that interrupted my dozing.  
  
"Hey B!"  
  
The voice sounded familiar.  
  
"It's Yamcha!"  
  
Oh. I really should have known. We had been dating for nearly six years.  
  
Part of me said I should just say I was busy, but the other part was glad to hear from him.  
  
"Hey Yammy. I had the most terrib."  
  
"Hold on Bulma!"  
  
Why did he sound so worried?  
  
"What is it Yamcha? You sound worried."  
  
The butterflies in my stomach began to flutter.  
  
"It's over." Such a simple statement, yet it didn't sink in. The concept of a break up between my boyfriend of nearly six years and little old me was just too complicated.  
  
"What?  
  
I had to double check I had heard right.  
  
"I met a girl. Her name is Faith. I love her and she returns the feeling. I loved her from the moment I saw her."  
  
That sounded familiar.  
  
"Our relationship just paled in comparison to the way I like Faith. It's over. Done."  
  
The phone slipped out of my grasp and bounced gently on my bed beside me. I picked it up and tried to think of something to say that would make it all better. I just couldn't think of anything to say. My mouth just opened and closed (like a fish actually, but I didn't think about that right then).  
  
Silent tears threatened to fall. I could hear the girl on the other side of the line.  
  
"She didn't take it too badly Yammy!"  
  
That was MY pet name for him.  
  
"Are you finished yet 'cos I thought of a game we could play." she giggled freakily high.  
  
I could just imagine 'Faith'. She would be blonde, tall, stupid, and girly and, of course, she'd have huge boobs.  
  
I could hear the sound of their 'game' down the line.  
  
I started to shake. I felt like a bomb was just about to explode. I screamed and threw the telephone at the wall in my anger.  
  
Just then I saw a picture of Yamcha and I setting off on our first date. We looked so sweet - happy and carefree. He was gazing into my eyes like I meant the world to him. I didn't anymore. I took it to hand and then the rain started. My tears joined with it.  
  
I glanced at my clock: 6:02pm. Stretching my arms I knocked a photo frame from my bedside table. There he was. The Devil in Disguise. In this picture he was smiling at the camera. The smile twisted to an arrogant smirk. He was laughing at me. I knew it!  
  
I did something I hadn't done for a while. My trembling hand grasped the shining door handle to my cupboard and searched for my relief. Out it came, glittering. I clicked it open and slid the blade across my bare fore arm.  
  
It felt good - better than I remembered. I let the blood from the cut slip gracefully down my arm and stain the plush carpet. It reminded me of the first time I had hurt myself.  
  
I had been at home alone (again) with the TV for my companion. Halfway through Oh My Goddess! A newsflash interrupted my viewing. It showed a destroyed house. I listened to the normal news reporter recount the events. A bomb had exploded in town. Being fourteen at the time I eventually got bored and glazed over waiting for it to get back to OMG!. Then I heard three sentences that jolted me out of my daydream.  
  
"A report has just come through. Fire fighters pulled out a body of fourteen-year old Mariah Brooke. Paramedics tried to save her but there was nothing they could do."  
  
Mariah had been my best friend since nursery. She had been into self-harm till just before she was killed. It had worked for, why not for me?  
  
So I had padded into the kitchen, opened the knife draw and selected a nice sharp blade. I was a little scared but as I drew the sharp edge across myself I had felt better. I imagined the blood pouring out of my arm to be the worries and troubles that I had built up flowing out of me. Then I cried for Mariah, myself, the World!  
  
I eventually got bored of watching the crimson liquid fall from my arm and went into my bathroom to clear myself up. After I had stopped the bleeding I went lay down on my bed and dozed off like nothing out of the norm had happened. 


	3. A quick pick me up

Butterfly  
  
I fell off the bed with a bump and landed on my hands and arse. A shooting pain ripped up my forearms. I bought them into my view frame and saw the red criss-cross patterns engraved upon them. I bit my lip. I'd done it again. I felt so ashamed of what I'd done I started to cry.  
  
After a few moments of pulling myself together (like curtains ^_^), I got up slowly and made my way to my en-suite bathroom to get myself cleaned up, thinking, all the while, how glad I was I kept my own first aid kit.  
  
While I cleaned my wounds I decided I would have to go out to make sure I didn't do it again. Any other person who didn't know of my depressive state would think it strange that Bulma Briefs, the rich, talented, strong willed (list is endless) daughter, was worried about the breaking of her resolve, but I knew that I might trip up at any moment.  
  
My mind flicked through the possible places I could go. I could visit one of my friends, work in the lab, go to Starbucks; nothing really appealed to me. Then I remembered the party Hope was going to be at was tonight. There was a girl I could party with. She knew barely anything of me - just how I like my party accomplices.  
  
An hour later, my cuts were clean and I was ready to get drunk. I had decided that it maybe a stupid thing to do but it would probably make me feel better for that short moment.  
  
"Hope!" I called. I could see the brunette dancing in the corner and made my way carefully over to her. I tapped her lightly on the shoulder to get her attention.  
  
"Bulma?"  
  
"The one and only," I replied coolly, not showing any signs of my earlier strife. I had attempted to cover up the slashes by wearing a jacket over my black dress and it would work as long as I didn't get to hot. I didn't feel like forming an on the spot explanation about them to lie to some worried partygoer.  
  
"Where's the real party? I'm aiming to dispose of my troubles briefly with the help of a large amount of alcohol and some loud music. Fuck the hang over. What do you say?" I asked her. She smiled, nodded an affirmative then took my hand and led me down a set of stairs (I didn't think about what it was going to be like getting back up them) and into a large basement.  
  
After downing as much drink as I could with out vomiting, dancing with as many guys as I could and gossiping with as many girls as I could I decided that I couldn't drink anymore. I stood up, head swimming, and staggered over to Hope.  
  
"See you.Monday." was all I could manage without being sick. Hope answered with a sound that I took as an ok.  
  
I practically crawled up the stairs, and I'm sure if it had been anyone else dragging themselves up the stairs I would have been laughing hysterically. I did giggle insanely, but that could be expected. I smiled woozily to myself when I reached the top, but then realised I had the five- minute walk to the Capsule Complex ahead of me.  
  
"I may as well try," I told myself.  
  
After walking for one minute my feet were killing me. I stumbled a bit and fell over as a car went by. I was so immersed in attempting to unlace my boot so that I could walk that I didn't notice the car reverse back. When I heard the door click open I looked up.  
  
"Need a ride?" a masculine voice said.  
  
"No. I don't do that kind of thing," I stuttered. I was sure I recognised the voice.  
  
"Lucky for you, neither do I."  
  
Then I knew. It was just Vegeta.  
  
"Oh."  
  
With that I clumsily climbed in and just as I slammed the door the car shot away.  
  
Thank Kami this wasn't a bumpy road, or the plush cream interior might not have survived the journey. 


	4. Explaining or Avoiding

Thanks a lot for the nice reviews. They make me happy! Here's the next chapter. ^_^  
  
Butterfly  
  
I scrambled out of the car and, to my embarrassment, tripped over and flashed at Vegeta. My face was already rosy from all my drinking so he couldn't see me flushing furiously.  
  
I got up calmly and brushed my dress off, before fishing into my bag for a key that might let me in the house. After hooking the Pikachu key ring onto my finger I unlocked the door. Okay, I lie. I attempted to unlock the door, but I just could get the key in the door. Obviously the alcohol was starting to wear in as to me, it looked like there were eight keyholes and I just could not get the right one. They kept dodging the key!  
  
Eventually Vegeta got bored of my cursing the bloody door and came over to me. He grabbed the key out of my hand, and in the process revealed my beautiful slashes.  
  
Now I was blushing.  
  
I expected him to say something, or at least grunt. All he did was raise an eyebrow.  
  
I was just about to stutter out an explanation but (thank Kami for well placed diversions) the door opened.  
  
Vegeta followed me in and led me to the kitchen. I was at least a little confused by this action. He sat me down, collected a bowl of warm water, some cotton wool and a first aid kit. Ah! So he was going to clean my cuts. How. nice of him?  
  
He pulled up and chair in front of mine and slid my jacket sleeves up.  
  
Dipping the first ball of cotton wool into the bowl of now anti-septic, he started to carefully and tenderly wash my gashes.  
  
"Care to explain?" he asked. If this had come from anyone else, I probably would have stammered my way into a dead end and eventually just end up running off, but, being Vegeta, it was different.  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"I have time."  
  
"I fell," I said, "Ok, so maybe it wasn't that long of a story."  
  
"Why don't you try again?" he suggested.  
  
"I fucked a porcupine."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"I wrestle tigers."  
  
"Uhuh."  
  
"I fell asleep, and the clown got me."  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
I took a deep breath. I could either try going on with the next crazy explanation (I went to a Marilyn Manson concert and everyone was giving hugs) or I could try and explain.  
  
Before I could answer he made a guess.  
  
"You did them to yourself."  
  
"Well done Captain Obvious."  
  
He pinned up the bandage to stay comfortably round my arm and cleared up his mess.  
  
"He turned and gave me a nod goodbye then let himself out. I heard his posh car drive away from the house.  
  
"That was. uncomfortable," I said to the kitchen appliances.  
  
I made my way up to my bedroom and lay down on my soft bed. Specks of my blood, long since turned brown littered the satin bed linen. I didn't mind though.  
  
My head was throbbing by now, and the more I tried to get to sleep the more it avoided me. Then a thought came to me.  
  
I slid off my bed and went to my bathroom cabinet. There were my trusty friends - sleeping pills. If nothing else worked, I could always hide from my angst in the world of sleep. Two pills and I was gone. The time they took to work there magic was just enough time for me to slip of the intentionally slutty, black dress and slip in between my smooth sheets.  
  
I spent the rest of my weekend in bed, trying to recover from my shitty weekend.  
I know it's very short so sorry. Also, I do not own Pikachu. Please review - it makes me happy.  
  
Mow 


	5. Forgetting

Hi! Sorry about the last chapter. I'm not sure what keeps going wrong but my chapters just come out in a big block of writing. It's very irritating. I'm working on stopping that happening.  
  
It was Monday and I was in a surprisingly happy mood. I walked into the form room humming Strawberry Gashes* to myself. I dropped my bag down and slid into my cold seat. "Hey Chi." Silence. Maybe she just didn't hear me. "I had a terrible weekend-" "-You had a terrible weekend? What about what you did to Yamcha? That's just cruel," she cut me off. Before I could question her reprimand, she got out of her seat and went to sit next to 18. I tilted my head at this odd behaviour and thought about going over to them both but decided against this as the death glares they were giving me were blinding.  
  
All day they avoided me. Chi and 18 sat away from me and that meant that Goku and Krillin did too. By lunch half the school 'knew' about what I had apparently done to Yamcha. I was so confused, but I pushed that to the back of my mind and decided I would try and straighten this mess out at lunchtime.  
  
I carried my lunch over to 'our' table and said hi. No response. "Look. I don't know what you think happened but I can assure you that I-" Chi chi glared me into silence. "No. You listen here bitch. What you did to Yamcha was terrible. He didn't deserve that! Only a whore would cheat on their boyfriend like you did! We all now what you did at that party on Friday. How many guys was it? We consider what you did to Yamcha to effect us all and so," she paused t let it sink in, "We don't consider you our friend anymore. Don't sit with us. Don't talk to us. Just stay away from us. It would be best if you just forgot we were ever friends, because we'll forget you! Slut!" She ahd said all this loud enough so that the whole canteen heard. The silence in there was deafening. Suddenly the silence was broken by someone near the back of the Dining room shouting insults at me. Soon enough the everyone in their were saying things. "Bitch!" "Whore!" "Wench" "Slut!" The list of endless insults carried off into eternity. If the school had mobbed up on anyone else I would have found the inventiveness of the school amusing. But it was aimed at me and each one stung. I grabbed my lunch tray and started to walk out of hell, but they didn't stop and I broke into a run.  
  
I walked to the back of the school with tears streaming down my pale face. What was I supposed to have done? Then suddenly BUMP. I fell backwards. "Oh. Hi Bulma." It was Hope. She offered me a hand up, which I instantly took. "Interesting rumour I've heard today." "Oh." "Don't panic. I know it's a load of bullshit. I was there, or were you too pissed out of your head to remember?" I laughed. Here was someone who wasn't judging me on what she had heard. "You want to come sit with me and my group?" Hope offered me. I nodded. "Just a word of warning. Seeing as we have the afternoon off, we're kind of getting high and stuff so you don't have to join in but no one's going to care if you do. Ok?" I thought about it for a minute. It sounded to be an attractive way of wasting my afternoon.  
  
We rounded the corner and I was faced with a small group of four people. They were sitting on some steps smoking something that I could smell from a few metres away. We approached them quickly and Hope made sure no one saw us go round there, as it was a restricted area. I sat myself down on the rail and said hi. I was answered with a chorus of slightly too happy his. Hope held me out a spliff and I hesitated. Should I? What would the others think? Oh. Hol on. There are no others anymore and I'll do as I damn please. My hand flashed out and I put it to my mouth with a deep breath I took a puff. Someone offered me a bottle of some shit and I took it gratefully. "And there's more of that to come," said one of the guys. In a matter of minutes, I was out of my head. 


	6. Waiting Arms

Hi again! Just a quick thanks to those who did take the time to review. THANKS!  
  
Butterfly  
  
I arrived home after being dropped off by one of my new friends. I stumbled through the house, calling to check if there was anyone in. To my (NOT) surprise nobody was, so I sat on my balcony, leaning against my patio doors. I dipped my hand in my school bag and pulled out the bottle of vodka Hope had given to me. I unscrewed the cap and took a swig, savouring the taste. Who needs friends when you have alcohol?  
  
"Not me." I muttered to myself. I wouldn't have been able to convince a dormouse let alone myself.  
  
Running along this mind path was sobering me up pretty quickly so I took one gulp of vodka, and another for good measure. The liquid had consumed and the pot I had smoked were starting to cloud my mind so I put the bottle to my mouth and wallowed in the sharp taste. By the time I was finished I couldn't even be bothered to put the bottle lid on.  
  
For the next few weeks I continued on this track. I skipped lessons to smoke in vacant rooms, was rude, pushed people round and hung round with Hope and her friends. It seemed I had forgotten my old group but in reality I had just pushed them to the back of my head.  
  
It was a Thursday night and I was just getting a drink of water from the kitchen, when my Father came in from the basement (his lab). He looked stressed and strangely, angry. I decided this was not a mood I wanted to meet my Dad in so I attempted to escape from the kitchen to my bedroom, but no such luck.  
  
"Bulma! Sit down."  
  
I turned and he was sitting by the kitchen table signalling to the vacant chair opposite him. I sat. It felt like he was just about to interrogate me. Then I had a terrible thought - what if he had found out about all the drugs and drink? I doubted if he would take that lightly like he used to. Now if anything happened he would get very angry.  
  
"I received a letter from your school today."  
  
He stopped and was silent.  
  
"Yes? I questioned innocently.  
  
"So, how many lessons and pieces of homework have you skipped?" he asked in a mock polite voice. Uh oh. What was I supposed to say?  
  
I didn't know so I gave him a blank look and hoped he'd drop the subject.  
  
"Answer me!" he shouted.  
  
"I don't know! I don't know!" I cried. I was getting worried now.  
  
"After all I've done for you! I've given you a house, a car, new clothes - whatever you wanted and this is how you repay me? Misbehaviour and poor grades? You bitch! You're useless! You're good at nothing! You're going to fail everything and guess what? I'm not going to help because I don't care! You've been a constant disappointment to you're mother and I. We gave you thousands of chances and you just used up you're last one."  
  
Before he could carry on with his tirade I had bolted from the room and all the way up to my bedroom. The only thought I would allow myself to think was simple.  
  
Scissors.  
  
I couldn't find any sharp pairs and I was starting to panic so I grabbed a pair of nail scissors. I had to press hard to draw blood as they were so blunt but I succeeded in ruining the skin on my arms. I lay on my bed and bled a little before slipping into the secure arms of three sleeping pills.  
  
By the time I had woken up it was five o'clock in the afternoon. I had missed school, but I didn't care and no one else was going to (least of all my Father). I was fully awoken by a buzzing sound coming from my left. My hands slapped aimlessly around on the desk until coming into contact with the vibrating object. The display on my mobile read 1 New Message. I accessed my Inbox and read the text. It was Hope telling me about a party. I decided I had to go. I could get drunk, smokes some shit and basically forget about the 'unpleasant' side of my life. Sounded good to me.  
  
I slipped on my black baggies and a black tank top. I had used my knife to slash the tummy area of the top.  
  
I crept down the plush carpeted stairs silently, on guard for anyone who might see me and tell my parents I had gone out. To my luck I met no one and shutting the door silently I pulled out one of my capsules and let it loose. It popped open (literally) to reveal a gorgeous black hover car. I climbed in graciously and sped off towards the party.  
  
I had been at the party what seemed like half an hour and it was already ten o'clock. I still had had nothing to drink. I sat down at the makeshift bar and asked the huge guy for a Budweiser. While he reached underneath the counter (I presumed the drinks were all under there) I examined him. He was a lot taller than me and extremely muscular - he looked too butch for my tastes. I was sure I had seen him before somewhere, but after further thought I decided that all the noxious fumes in the house were getting to me.  
  
The guy handed me my drink and I had a quick sip. There was a foreign taste with this beer - something not quite right about it. I had no longer to mull over that thought as soon enough the world turned black and I could feel myself fall from the chair into someone's waiting arms.  
  
*Cell phone if you're American. 


	7. Realisation and shock

Butterfly  
  
Ok. Where the hell am I? Somewhere warm. Something soft underneath, but something heavy on top of me.  
  
It sounded like a twisted riddle and I was going to have to work it out by opening my eyes. I groggily did so, blinking a few times to adjust to the light.  
  
The "thing" on top of me started to move down and I decided to sit up and see what the fuck was happening. A sharp pain in my head put an abrupt stop to that. I could feel the goose bumps caused by the pain rise up on my body.  
  
And that's when I realised I wasn't wearing my dress anymore. I could see it lying discarded on the floor with my stilettos lying on top. Suddenly I shuddered in realisation - I was about to be raped.  
  
My mind was a little cloudy from my being drugged, but with the added incentive of a possible violation of my body, my mind became clear enough for me to know that if I as going to stay as "white as a sheet" till I was married, I was going to have to act now.  
  
I gathered my strength and delivered a well-aimed kick to his "family jewels".  
  
That had him off me in a flash. He rolled over and fell off me and the bed with a bang.  
  
I froze in fear for a second or two as my situation sunk in to my jumbled head. I stared at the wall with wide eyes (think rabbit caught in head lights), and I started to cry. This was something I was doing far too much lately. Then it dawned on me that I was still in the same room as my attacker. I scrambled from the bed and shoved on my ripped dress. I abandoned my stilettos as I bolted from the room.  
  
"Bulma?" It was Goku's older brother Raditz. Shit. He was not supposed to be here. How was I going explain to him what I was doing here, plus what just happened? No, I wasn't going to deal with him.  
  
Then I noticed Hope making her way towards me. She exited the bedroom where she had probably gotten laid and was approaching me speedily.  
Not her as well.  
  
Then it all got fantastically worse. The door to the hell I had just escaped opened and out stepped. I didn't wait to find out. I sprang down the stairs with Hope following me close behind, Raditz tailing her and my assailant ending the chase. I got to the door and threw it open, relishing the fresh, cool air as it washed over my flushed face.  
  
Leaping out of the door, I located my car and high jumped the door, feeling extremely relieved that I had left the roof down. Just as Hope reached the spot where my car had been, I drove away.  
  
I put pedal to the metal literally as I raced home. I was going so fast the tears streaming from my eyes were getting forced away. I slowed down the car as I approached a sharp corner in the road, but the car wasn't slowing. I took my foot completely off the pedal and held the brakes down but nothing was happening.  
  
Apprehending the possibility that I was going to crash at the approaching corner, I reached for my seatbelt and buckled in. I grasped the steering wheel with both hands and attempted to swerve so the brunt of the force would hit the side of the care I was not in.  
  
Before I knew it the car had smashed into the wall. The car folded like origami paper. The windscreen shattered and I was showered in a rain of sharp glass, which I averted my face away from as best I could. The door furthest away from me was thrown and my body was jerked forward from the impact.  
  
As the car ground to a halt and silence settled around me, I felt the pain begin to invade my body. Blood ran down my face and everywhere and my whole body convulsed a mixture of absolute shock and hellish hurt.  
  
I was probably going to die. 


	8. Escapology

Butterfly  
  
I took a deep breath, hoping to calm myself so I could at least think straight. There had to be a way out of this crushed car. I took a look around the car without moving my neck and spotted a possible saviour.  
  
My mobile phone had fallen out of my bag when the car had stopped moving and if I could just reach it now I could call 999.  
  
With a lot of pain and determination I managed to lean myself towards the passenger seat. Then I came to a stop. My left hand had been cascaded in crystals of glass and shots of pain ran up my arm when I flexed it. A knife-like shard of glass was protruding from my bleeding appendage, and it had probably cut into my muscle.  
  
Regardless of the pain, I knew I had to get out of this fucking car and get some medical attention.  
  
Reaching over I used my fingers to nudge the phone over. If I could dial the number and put it on speakerphone then I wouldn't have to move so much. I flipped it over and smiled, but my smile was annihilated in a second when I realised the screen of the mobile had a spider web-like crack and the buttons were not exactly in working condition.  
  
"Shit!" I screamed to no one in particular. I would have to resort to the good old method of calling for help. The likeliness of anyone hearing me was microscopic but I could try. So I did.  
  
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! I'VE CRASHED MY CAR AND I NEED HELP!!!"  
  
I called for a while, but with no response, I eventually stopped. I would prefer to die with a voice than without.  
  
I stared forward and started to smile. What a perfect ending to a perfect night! I was grinning inanely when I spotted the smoke starting to rise from the exposed engine. I guessed that in a matter of minutes the innocent smoke would turn into seductive flames, and then, bang. The car would explode.  
  
And with that cheery thought, I laughed. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I laughed until I was crying and couldn't breathe.  
  
And then I passed out.  
I know it's a very short chapter, but the next one will be longer (I hope). I would write more but I need to sleep.  
  
Please review. It makes me really happy when I get just a single review, plus it feeds my family!!! 


	9. Awkward Moments

Just a word for you: something in these brackety things is Bulma's thought train while someone else is speaking  
  
Butterfly  
  
I had never liked the colour white. It was too clean, too pure and just too damn white! So when I woke up to a white ceiling glaring down at me, white walls boxing me in and white sheets covering my body, it didn't bode well for the rest of my day.  
  
I moaned in agony as the pain ebbed at my now fully conscious mind.  
  
"Finally."  
  
Someone in the room. There's someone in the room.  
  
I opened my eyes to be greeted with the interesting sight of two easily recognisable young men. One had a worried and concerned look on his face and the other a smirk.  
  
"Hello Raditz." I gave him a wary smile  
  
"Vegeta." A nod.  
  
Before I could even sit up, Raditz was at my side, fussing over me.  
  
"Are you okay Bulma?" he practically cried at me.  
  
"I'm."  
  
I had to think of a reply that was acceptable. I wasn't brilliantly terrible or terribly brilliant. I was.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about that weakling. He's been fussing around your bedside since we got here. He only just sat down until you decided to finally wake up."  
  
I began to wonder if Raditz actually knew I wasn't on 'good' terms with his brother, to put it lightly anyway. I always thought Raditz and Goku were pretty close but maybe they just haven't discussed this, but there were much more important things to be thinking about.  
  
"How did I get here?"  
  
"Ambulance."  
  
"I guessed that, but how did I get out of the car. Who found me?"  
  
"We both did," Raditz piped in. This was confirmed by a jerk of Vegeta's head. "I was out driving and I heard someone shouting for help. So I tracked down where the shouting was coming from. I spotted Raditz pull up next to you and went to help."  
  
"How lovely of you," I said. I sounded sarcastic but I really did mean it.  
  
"After you ran out of the party, I stopped that girl to ask her if she knew what was wrong but she didn't. I found Nappa I winced to ask him if he knew and he said he didn't but I knew he was lying because I could smell your scent on him I already knew about the Son family being Saiyajin. So I followed your trail and heard you laughing. Why were you laughing?"  
  
"I was going to die. How could I not laugh?" I said seriously.  
  
The two guys gave me this strange 'she is absolutely insane' look.  
  
"Anyway. I saw Vegeta and shouted to him to get his mobile out and phone 999. I wrenched off the door and got you out of the car with Vegeta's help. We checked you over and moved the car away so if it caught fire and exploded we wouldn't get hit so badly. Eventually the ambulance arrived and now you're here," Raditz finished, "What happened Bulma?"  
  
Well, think about it. I wasn't just going to sit down and say to someone I didn't even like that much and the brother of a person I despised, 'Oh, you see the thing is, Nappa tried to rape me so I drove really fast. My brakes stopped working so I crashed.' No, it wasn't going to happen.  
  
"I realised I had to be home or my Dad would find out I was gone and it wouldn't be nice when I got home. I was driving quite fast to get home but I the car skidded on the road surface and I crashed. That's all."  
  
Raditz nodded, completely accepting the crappy lie I had just spun. Vegeta on the other hand, raised that suspecting eyebrow and gave me a look that gave me the impression that he could see right through me. I shuddered a little. Why were there so many uncomfortable moments with Vegeta and myself? Why Kami, why?  
  
"Well, now that we have all of that sorted out, I gotta go pick up my brother from Chi's." I huffed at the mention of the couple. "Oh. I'd forgotten that you lot aren't talking."  
  
"To put it extremely mildly - yes."  
  
"What's gonna happen between you guys?"  
  
"Nothing," I spat bitterly, "They told me to forget them, so I have. Goodbye Raditz and thanks again," I smiled warmly. It was a complete change of face from the bitter Bulma to warm smiling lovely Bulma. Raditz exited the room.  
  
"Since when did you care what you're Dad thought?"  
  
"I don't!" I retorted without thinking.  
  
"Why did you run out of the party then?"  
  
Alarm bells rang loudly in my head. ALERT! UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENT WITH VEGETA APPROACHING! There was no way to avoid it now, so I answered him honestly. 


	10. Painful explanations

Well. My exams are mostly over so I shall try to update quickly, but I've never been good at time keeping so don't get your hopes up (.  
Butterfly  
  
"Something bad happened."  
  
Yes, I know it's a seriuosly rubbish answer - but it was the truth.  
  
Argh! The Eyebrow of Doom strikes again.  
  
"Car to exagerate?"  
  
"No, but I'm not going to be able to do anything until, I answer you, am I?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
Realisation hit me like a brick wall. I was going to have to tell him, if not because he was asking me to, but because I needed to tell someone! I had this deep desire to just pour out the very darkest secrets of my existance - and it was scaring me.  
  
But I decided to go wild.  
  
"I think it would be ewasier if you just asked me questions about everything."  
  
"Fine."  
  
He paused. He had a thoughtful look on his face. I have to admit he looked cute, adorably gorgeous, even.  
  
"What happened to you that made you leave?"  
  
I scowled at him. He was supposed to ask individual questions so it would be easier. He noticed my scowl and smirked in response. Arsehole. He did it deliberately.  
  
"Idiot," I muttered, "I'll explain in short. Evil parent madee me deressed. I cut myself. I went to sleep. Hope texted me and told me about the party. I went. I got a beer from a big bald guy with this manky moustache. I blacked out. I woke up. The guy was there and." I faltered.  
  
Vegeta looked terrifying. He was scowling, but his eyes were horrible. They were quite wide and he was staring at me, with a murderous glint in his eyes. Uhoh. He thought. I had to explain.  
  
"I got him off me eventually and bolted from the party. My brakes didn't work when I got to the turn and the road was to slippery for the air brakes to get a good push on the road. So I crashed.  
  
"There you have it. My evening in summary," I spat bitterly. The memories were running through my head over and over again. My Father telling me I was a disappontment, my nearly getting raped because I was too weak to defend myself and too stupid to relise what was going to happen, and then the cherry on top. Crashing my car and nearly dying.  
  
Tears threatened to spill but I held them in.  
  
"This man," Vegeta practically growled, "Describe him further."  
  
"Bald. Moustache that went like this," I drew an imaginary moustache, using my finger, that was a replicate of my attacker, "Extremely tall and large with lots of muscles. Too many to look good though."  
  
Vegeta interrupted me, "Enough. I shall deal with him."  
  
Vegeta got up and was by the door in a flash. With a slight bow he was gone, leaving me to wonder exactly what he was going to do.  
  
The it occurred to me that he must know who the man was.  
  
That wasn't very good but I didn't have much time to write it. Sorry about that. Thank you to my reviewers. I have 30 reviews! ( 


	11. Exacting Revenge

The beginning is written in Vegeta's POV. Sorry if it's a bit OOC but I don't think I've really written in his POV before.  
  
Butterfly  
  
Today he was going to die.  
  
Extremely slowly.  
  
Amazingly painfully.  
  
And with as much humiliation to his Saiyajin pride as physically and mentally possible.  
  
I hadn't killed anyone for a while and, the more I thought about the evil act of which I was about to willingly and eagerly commit to, I realised the want in me. My blood was literally burning like a wooden house on fire - not just because of what he had done to my Bulma, but because I needed to immediately satiate my murderous desires.  
  
My soon-to-be victim shared a dingy house with Raditz, so I knew where I would find him.  
  
I arrived outside the front door within a minute of leaving Bulma and stood outside for a moment, my anger multiplying like germs in a hot place. Without wasting another precious moment, I raised my slightly shaking hand to touch the wooden door. The red paint was peeling off after years of neglect and I calmly watched the peels float gently to the dirty floor.  
  
Goodbye door.  
  
* * * The passers by in the street were on there Saturday morning shopping trips and all was well. The sun shone down upon the road brightly and a couple wandered aimlessly down the street with linked arms. The peace was shattered like a window when a huge bang and a vivid flash interrupted the meanderings of the Saturday shoppers. People threw themselves to the ground, suspecting a bomb. Other fled the road, screaming bloody murder.  
  
One thing was for certain; something bad was about to happen to someone on this street.  
  
* * *  
  
I stepped through the open doorway and into the grotty house. I took a superior sniff of the air to locate my target and found him to be residing in his bedroom. By the feminine smell of things, there was someone else here and it wasn't Raditz.  
  
I hovered above the barely carpeted floor for two reasons. One: I had just changed my boots and I didn't plan on ruining them by stepping on this shitty floor, and two: for stealth. Napa's enhanced saiyajin hearing would detect my movements, however light and graceful, before I had even adorned the stairs with my presence.  
  
I could hear exactly what Nappa and his guest were doing and it sickened me. I clicked my fingers out; I couldn't wait to stop it.  
  
I approached the door and pushed it open. I didn't stop to think whether or not the cursed door would decide to squeak. It chose to and I froze in place, terrified that he would hear me. Then I remembered that, hey! Who gave a shit what he would do? He'd be dead soon.  
  
I lowered myself onto the surprisingly clear floor and stalked to the bed like a lion stalking its prey. I picked up Nappa and threw him into he corner without a second thought. I heard his surprised yelp as he landed.  
  
I ignored his questions when I saw who had been underneath his bulky form. The blue hair caught my eye first of all, and for a heartbeat I believed it to be my woman, but then I realised the impossibility of it all. This was just some common whore who looked like Bulma.  
  
And it was exactly that thought that enraged me so.  
  
This was just some common whore who looked like Bulma.  
  
True, her hair was duller and cut in a less flattering cut. She had a less than perfect complexion and her legs weren't quite as heavenly as Bulma's. I could have gone on all day about the imperfections of this prostitute but I didn't. I, who had known Bulma for a very long time (aeons), could spot the differences easily, but to Nappa, anything was better than nothing. That was the only Kamiforsaken reason he chose her. To be as near to having Bulma as he could be without actually gaining his most sickening desires. I nearly gagged at that shuddering reflection but I stuck with the task at hand. I determinedly strode to the discarded clothes and speedily picked up as many of the whore's garments as possible. I balled them up and dropped them out the window, disregarding her cries of wrongdoing. I phased out and then in again next to her, causing her to jump amusingly. I smirked the most evil smirk I have ever smirked when she attempted to cover herself up. I reached forward and she must have had some notion that I was going to molest her (that made me laugh; why would I touch her when I had my own cerulean angel to return to?) because she tried to back up against the headboard of the old iron bed. I took her by the shoulders and picked her up. Taking her to the same window that her clothes had exited from, I pulled it open just a little wider. I took a lightning quick look outside to check there was grass underneath the window, before unceremoniously dropping her.  
  
* * *  
  
The passers by received another shock when a naked as the day she was born girl was dropped from the window.  
  
Mothers covered their children's curious eyes and men leered at her.  
  
The woman, forgetting her predicament, gave them a flirtatious wink.  
  
* * *  
  
I took a slow step in the direction of my ex-comrade, followed by another, until I was standing over him with a homicidal glint in my onyx eyes. He cowered beneath me and I laughed my mocking laugh at his cowardice.  
  
Suddenly turning dead serious in the blink of an eye I helpfully told him what this was about.  
  
"I know what you tried to do to Bulma, and you will pay for it. I promise I will make sure you die slowly, painfully and with as much honour as you deserve," his face brightened at this. I finished my sentence, "None."  
  
That was his death sentence.  
  
I set about keeping my promise happily.  
  
When I was done I felt much less angry. After I had finished torturing him into humiliation, I had ripped out his thick throat. The rich, red blood had drenched my bare hands and before it could stain anything else, I brought my scarlet hand up to just in front of his paling, miserable face. If he had had a throat left I'm sure he would have begged me for mercy. Instead he made a pathetic kind of gargling sound as his voice box vibrated in his swiftly exiting blood. I smirked at him to increase the fear factor of his last seconds in this dimension.  
  
* * *  
  
The passers by were now past caring of the events happening in the house across the road.  
  
The bright blue flash got a small look from a few people, but otherwise no other reaction was forced.  
  
* * *  
  
I was extremely pleased with my handiwork. I had worked slowly enough so the pain had petrified Nappa but quickly enough so that the blood had not yet travelled down the mountain that was Nappa's torso and touched the floor. It was all on the floor of another dimension now.  
  
I sighed.  
  
I had exacted my revenge on behalf of Bulma and myself, and I felt extremely better now.  
  
I hovered to the window and with a melancholy thought that I was the second person to leave the house through the window, I flew back home to wash off the crimson blood dripping occasionally from my hands.  
  
* * *  
  
When a man flew out of the accursed house, no one even bothered to think about it.  
  
AN: Was that a long enough chapter? I'm sorry that they are a bit short, but I don't have a lot of time to make them longer. Thanks so much for all your reviews! ( 


	12. Discoveries of Doom

BEFORE you read this, I have a request to make you. On Saturday and Sunday I'm doing a long hike and camp for a special Award (Duke of Edinburgh Award). I would really appreciate it if you could review my fic because I want something to make the pain go away when I get home and hopefully by reading your reviews (that always cheers me up) I might feel better. Please?  
  
Butterfly  
  
I didn't see Vegeta for the rest of the day. In fact, no one came by except Raditz. Yay for Raditz! He really is the greatest.  
  
He came about eight in the evening and I have to see that it was the highlight of my day.  
  
Picture the scene. There I was, lying idly in my uncomfortable hospital bed, staring at the clock and counting the slow seconds snail by, when a huge commotion was heard outside my room. I was a little freaked by this. I had just been harassed!  
  
Being my curious self I attempted to peer through my window to see what was happening but it hurt me too much so I laid back again.  
  
A few minutes later I heard a whimper and then something hit the floor. It sounded like a body so I was even more worried by now. I pulled my knees up towards me and ignored the extreme pain of moving my sore body that was now coursing through me.  
  
A dark shape loomed in my door window, but the glass was coloured so I couldn't see who it was.  
  
The silver door handle started to move. It screamed in agony of being so speedily moved but complied with the hand forcing it down.  
  
The door began to swing open and I bit my tongue hard to stop myself from screaming (screaming encourages) and subconsciously began to hold my breath.  
  
I was waiting nervously for thee intruder to enter and when he did I gasped in surprise.  
  
It was only Raditz.  
  
I broke out in smiles and he came forward to give me a hug. I had to yelp at him to make him let go. He was squeezing a bit too hard on my torso.  
  
"Raditz. Release me. Too tight." I wheezed in his ear.  
  
He took a few seconds to respond but then released me and muttered his apologies. Suddenly his face broke into smiles. It was kind of a Goku goofy smile except with a little more class.  
  
"It won't be hurting soon."  
  
I gave him a funny look and raised my eyebrow, imitating Vegeta's eyebrow of doom.  
  
What was he on about now?  
  
In the dark recesses of my twisted mind I secretly wondered if he had been smoking dope again.  
  
What was there that could possibly get rid of my injuries so soon?  
  
"I brought you a present. It'll work miracles for you and you'll be right as rain before you know it."  
  
"And it is.?"  
  
He dug his hand into his pocket and felt around for something. I nearly giggled when I had a passing kinky thought but anyway.  
  
When he had obviously found what he was searching for (the look on his face changed from slightly frustrated to slightly pleased look), he held his hand out to me. On it was a small brown bean shaped thing. What was I supposed to do with it?  
  
I look blankly at the bean and then equally vacantly at Raditz.  
  
"You're supposed to eat it."  
  
I nodded.  
  
It wasn't like I hadn't tried taking mysterious substances into my body before so what did I have to lose?  
  
Nothing.  
  
I took the bean thing and put it in my mouth. It tasted absolutely vile. I ignored the flavour and swallowed it.  
  
The most astonishing feeling came over me. It was like someone was knitting me together. I wanted to giggle but I held in that sensation and bit my lip.  
  
Seconds later, I could feel no pain. I flexed my arms and jiggled around a little to test my body for breaks that might still have remained.  
  
Nothing.  
  
I once again glanced to Raditz and gave a questioning look. My curious side begged to be satiated. I had to ask what that was, so I did.  
  
"It's called a Senzu Bean. One of Goku's friends grows them for healing fighting wounds and so such. They really do works. Scary, huh?"  
  
I nodded, but with the realisation that the doctors now had no real reason to keep me here, I beamed in delight.  
  
Throwing my arms round his thick neck I practically cried my thanks to him.  
  
He always knew how much I hated hospitals and now he had saved me from having to stay in one for weeks on end. How I adored him at that moment!  
  
I grabbed my minimal possessions and grabbed my angel's hand to lead him out of the door, commanding him to give me a lift home.  
  
My doctor who was just coming to do his annoyingly regular check-up stopped me at the door.  
  
He gasped when he saw me out of bed and leaving.  
  
"Get back in bed, young lady! You're still not well!"  
  
I laughed in his face.  
  
"Not a chance old man! I'm fully well thanks very much, and will be leaving now."  
  
He gave me a look that read 'in your dreams - you're not escaping that easily'.  
  
To prove my point I patted my ribs and showed him that the hole in my hand had disappeared completely, except for a small patch of slightly off- coloured, pinkish skin.  
  
His eyes widened unbelievably and he mad a move as if to grab my hand and analyse how this could possibly of happened. But let's face it. I wasn't going to let him do that!  
  
I spun on my heel and sprinted away from him and out of the hospital, dragging my saviour behind me. I spotted his flash car from a mile away and quick as lightning sprinted over to it. He was there faster than I could see and seconds later we were speeding down the motorway towards my home.  
  
Upon reaching my destination I jumped out and gave Raditz a small kiss on the cheek. I jumped up the steps and let myself into my empty house. The only sound I could hear was the screeching of tyres as Raditz sped off home.  
  
As usual no one was in.  
  
No one had been in.  
  
And no one was probably going to be in for a while.  
  
My parents hadn't even bothered to find out where I had been. I was nearly beyond the point of caring and it didn't bother me in the least.  
  
I fetched myself a beer and sat down to watch TV.  
  
Five minutes into my incredibly boring viewing, the phone rang.  
  
I picked it up and greeted my contactor.  
  
"It's Raditz. I don't know what to do. There's a dead person in my house and I think its Nappa." 


	13. Betrayal of Trust

AN: I'm soooooo sorry for not updating! I feel really bad but it's the summer holidays and I've been kind of busy. I'll try and be faster for the next one plus I've made this chapter longer than normal. I was planning on keeping it was two chapters, but what the heck? I'm feeling guilty but in a good mood.  
  
Thanks a bunch to all who have reviewed in the past and will review in the future. (  
  
Butterfly  
  
"What do you mean there's a dead person in your house? Is it walking around or what?"  
  
"No! There's a corpse in Nappa's room and." Raditz ground to a disgusted stop, "Its revolting Bulma."  
  
"No worries. I'll be right round."  
  
I crumpled my empty can in my right hand with a decisive crunch and ignored the sharp pain caused by a shard of the aluminium disaster. Grabbing my car keys from the kitchen cabinet, I raced out of the front door (slamming it stubbornly behind me) and raced to my speediest car.  
  
Normally I wouldn't be so bothered about reaching Raditz as quickly as time allowed, but I confess I knew a secret that only a few know.  
  
Raditz didn't like dead bodies.  
  
Not particularly useful for a warrior saiyajin, but he was a good actor.  
  
He wasn't afraid of the blood, or the gore - it was just the lifelessness of the bodies that petrified him into silence and a fit of shakes.  
  
Poor Guy!  
  
I pulled up outside his house five minutes later and corrected my appearance that had been stirred up by the air resistance my car had caused whilst racing as fast as I could go.  
  
The door was already open so there was no need to knock. I simply wandered in and up the stairs to where I suspected Raditzu might be.  
  
Reaching the top of the stairs, I silently walked towards the door to Nappa's room.  
  
I pushed it open and there, sitting cross-legged on the floor and in absolute stillness, was my only saiyajin friend.  
  
I stepped into the room in mind of approaching him but just had to stop when the stench of death hit me. It was like walking in a wall of repulsive smell. I looked round the slightly messy room.  
  
There were some masculine clothes discarded on the floor. The trail started by the door and led my eyes to the rumpled bed. The cover was drawn back and there had obviously been some kind of action earlier. But the thing that caught my eye was a few feet away from the double bed.  
  
The rotting corpse of what I had to assume was Nappa's sat like a piece of meat at the butcher's.  
  
I probably wasn't too far of the truth by describing a butcher's.  
  
Forgetting the corpse for a moment I went over to my cowering friend. He was so far entranced that he hadn't even acknowledged I had arrived.  
  
I waved my hand in front of his spaced out face. No reaction.  
  
I slapped hi round his spaces out face. No reaction.  
  
So I used the only thing I could to bring him out of it.  
  
I opened my mouth as wide as an ocean and screamed his name so loud plaster crumbled from the old ceiling.  
  
Raditz practically jumped out of his skin.  
  
It was actually quite funny to watch but I knew I shouldn't giggle because this was neither the time nor the place.  
  
I took control of the sticky situation of having a corpse in the house and came up with a few questionable ideas.  
  
"First things first, Raditz," I stopped and checked he was listening and on spotting that he was I carried on with my command, "You have to vaporize the body to dispose of it."  
  
"How?"  
  
Obviously the shock had slowed him down mentally.  
  
I imitated hitting my head in exasperation.  
  
"With a ki blast, dimwit!"  
  
"Oh. yeah." Raditz mumbled, slightly ashamed of not thinking of that himself.  
  
A few seconds later, the carcass was non-existent. The stain of the blood was still there but that could be dealt with later.  
  
In a friendlier tone than before I told him, "Raditz let's, get you out of here."  
  
Taking him gently by the arm, I pulled him out of the murder scene and eventually placed him on an old chair in the slightly grotty kitchen.  
  
The question of who did it was still running a thousand miles through my head but winning the race was the worrisome thought that that murderer may still return and although Raditz, the big, strong saiyajin was here to protect her, he was still too shocked to be much help.  
  
So the worry carried on running.  
  
Just as I placed a cup of tea in front of Raditz (and not one for me - tea was horrible stuff if you ask me), the back door was opened by none other than Vegeta.  
  
Uh oh.  
  
I glanced at the saiyajin sitting by the table and realised he was in quite a delicate state at the moment having the cocky Vegeta around to shame him was not going to be good for his saiyajin pride.  
  
I braced my hands against the short man's shoulders and pushed him quickly back out the door.  
  
When the door was shut I explained to Vegeta about the dead body and that Raditz wasn't in a good mood (I refrained from telling him the absolute truth about the way Raditz was), and reluctantly that I was actually a little worried the killer would return or something.  
  
When I said that, I could see the humour smirk play up onto his lips.  
  
"Don't be sill, Woman," he berated me, "Why should you worry about me killing you, you're not that annoying yet."  
  
I put two and two together and surprisingly enough I got four.  
  
Vegeta was the executioner of Nappa.  
  
My inquisitive mind took over and before I knew it my curiosity had asked him why.  
  
!"It's very simple. Nappa was you're attacker and as you are my acquaintance it was a matter of pride, he hesitated before telling me the last two words but eventually his arrogance and want to show off took over, "Saiyajin Pride."  
  
And at that I was dumbfounded.  
  
Vegeta was a saiyajin.  
  
I had always suspected something different about him but I had always thought that if he were, he would have the decency to tell me, his friend of 10 years, that he was one, along with Goku and his family.  
  
"How could you not tell me?" I stuttered.  
  
"It's simple. I did not trust you enough-"  
  
"You didn't trust me enough?" I cut him short, "I'm you're friend of 10 bloody years! I've known you the longest out of nearly anyone on the planet, and you didn't trust me enough?"  
  
I was nearly in tears to my humiliation. I was just so pissed off over this. This was the man, sorry, saiyajin who had practically been my only true friend for a few weeks now and I had just found out that he had been deluding me for 10 years of camaraderie. Then another great thought popped into my head. Goku had clearly known about this (being a saiyajin himself) but had Chi, Juu , Krillin and all the rest known? It just added to the list of crimes they had committed against me.  
  
And that reflection riled me up even more.  
  
"How could you deceive me?" I spat in part fury, part complete misery and dejection.  
  
"I have explained myself enough Woman!" he yelled at me, "I merely did not trust you enough to handle this information as carefully as it needs to be handled."  
  
"Merely? You think this is that simple? You still have a lot to learn about how emotions work, although it'll be pretty hard for you," I sobbed angrily.  
  
He finished my sentence for me though.  
  
"What? Because I have no heart?"  
  
Now he looked pissed.  
  
"Well if we're on too critising each others anatomy then you started it!" I screamed. Pretty childish but it was aggravating him and I wanted that, "What was that oh so lovely comment about me not being able to handle information discreetly enough? Me and my big mouth eh? Stupid Bulma can't keep her fucking, huge mouth shut for one second? Is that what you're trying to say?"  
  
"Yes Bulma. That's exactly what I'm bloody trying to say so fuck off and leave me the hell alone! And if I find you breathed a word of this to any soul I will tear you limb from limb and enjoy doing so!" he cursed at me. I could feel waves of anger, fury and wrath washing off him and the feeling scared me shitless, along with the fact of the death threat I had just received from the man who had been one of my closest friends up until about five minutes ago.  
  
Before I could shout back he had shot off and I watched him fly through the darkening sky, just as my heart darkened even more than before.  
  
My tears blinded me as I stumbled over to my sparkling car. I climbed in and as my car rolled away from the street of my Nightmares and away from Raditz (who no doubt had heard my argument and knew I had gone) I considered killing myself.  
  
What was left to live for?  
  
Had no real friends. No loving and proud parents. Not even a fucking pet to love and care for.  
  
All that remained at home for me was alcohol, drugs, sharp objects with which to mar my body and henceforth my spirit with and a barrel full of shitty feelings.  
  
I pressed my foot down closer to the metal.  
  
Loneliness.  
  
The car sped up underneath my fragile body.  
  
Guilt.  
  
The car was like a demon, getting harder to control as the speed increased.  
  
Shame.  
  
My desperate eyes, the windows to my very essence found a nice, thick looking wall in front of me that looked like a good prospect for my plans.  
  
Doom.  
  
But then a ray of hope shone through my dark clouds.  
  
And was it was quite literally that.  
  
Hope.  
  
I still had Hope and her group of friends. It was true I didn't know them well but I could learn. Life would be okay as long as I had someone to cling to and I did.  
  
The car slowed to a good, healthy speed and I drove home, calmer than I was, but in my core I was still a raging ocean, begging to be calmed.  
  
AN: It was gonna be longer but I decided you'd probably just want it anyhow. Yet again I apologise for the lateness of this chapter. ( 


	14. Beaten to the Idea of Death

AN: I'm a little disappointed in you, my readers. I received one reviews. Painful. If it was that bad, you could have at least flamed me constructively. But oh well. With another chapter (quickly released might I add) is another chance. So please, give me kicks. Review to feed me growing family!  
  
For the next few weeks I clung to Hope and her friends as my last support. I grew to know them relatively well and things were okay for a number of weeks.  
  
Notice I said I got to know them well - well being the operative word.  
  
So when a certain incident happened I was not hugely surprised. Broken, but not surprised.  
  
* * *  
  
After my bitter argument with Vegeta I had sought solace with Hope. That included even more alcohol, even more parties and even more disorderly behaviour  
  
For instance, on Friday evening the 'crew' and me met at a rave and got so pissed I couldn't remember who I was! I danced like a slut with any man I could find and smoked as much dope as a dealer.  
  
On Monday, I found out someone had found it wise to go and tell Chi, Goku and everyone about my goings on from Friday. The looks of superiority they gave me in the corridors were hilarious.  
  
I believe some of the comments exchanged were, "Just like the slut she is" and "Well it's not like she hasn't done it before - think about the Yamcha incident".  
  
What incident?  
  
Anyway.  
  
It became a custom for us to skive of lessons at least once a day and go to the Art cupboard.  
  
The Storeroom was a huge room; bigger even, than some of the classrooms! It had dust filled windows so no one could see our illegal actions and a few old, rotting chairs in the rarely trodden corners of the room. It housed ancient paintings that had never been collected by their creators, barely used art materials, trashed equipment and our own supply of cigarettes and a bottle or two of some spirit that went straight to your head, in a box labelled 'Crayons for use on black paper'. Shows how much people used crayons on black paper.  
  
It was on one of these particular occasions that I was finally abandoned by everyone.  
  
Whilst I was lighting up and taking a filthy seat next to a box full of used 3B pencils and a can of contaminated black paint, one of the guys, of whom I cannot remember his identity, had an idea that could have rivalled Einstein - or me for that matter!  
  
NOT  
  
"You know," he paused in a desperate attempt to at drama to his plan, "I've always hated this Hell Hole("  
  
Dangerous words.  
  
"(And I've just had an idea on how to exact revenge for all the shit this school has put us through("  
  
Uh oh.  
  
"Let's burn it to the ground."  
  
Shit.  
  
I knew I was in that particular substance when he received murmurs of approval.  
  
Well, from all except me.  
  
I kind of hoped no one had realised I wasn't exactly being enthusiastic about this arson, but my luck had been failing me this last year.  
  
Sure, I had burnt things before.  
  
I'd even burnt down a neighbours shed when I was nine. I kicked my football over the fence and into his pristine garden. The old git wouldn't give it back. He even had the indecency to tell my mother I had been throwing stones at his green house windows, in a failing attempt to smash the new windows.  
  
So I decided to give him something to jack off over.  
  
But this was big. And I didn't want to do it.  
  
"You know guys," started Hope. I should have known she'd bail me out, "Who's going to actually do it?"  
  
Now I could take this innocently, or, I could think that Hope was suggesting lil' old me.  
  
Picking up on the subtle hint, one girl spoke.  
  
"You do it Bulma."  
  
"Well. I just don't think this is a good idea," I stuttered, "Somebody might get hurt?"  
  
It ended up as a question because, simply, it was a questionable excuse. And even with the illegal substances in this room clouding their senses ever so slightly, they saw through it like I can see through a window.  
  
"What's up B? Don't you want to help us? Aren't we your friends?" Hope asked.  
  
I felt like I was being interrogated by MI5, and it was fucking scary.  
  
I stumbled over my words before just deciding to tell them the truth.  
  
After all, they were my friends, right? They'd understand.  
  
"I just don't think it's a good scheme. What if we get caught?"  
  
"Sounds like Bulma's backing out on us. You know what I think guys? B's going to rat on us. Isn't that nasty of her?"  
  
"Hope? What are you . No - why are you saying this?"  
  
Before I could carry on, I was interrupted by Einstein in the corner.  
  
"Is that true Bulma?"  
  
It was becoming increasingly obvious that although this wasn't planned, Hope and Mr Einstein were ganging up on me and stirring up the rest of the group too.  
  
I had to stop this before something terrible happened.  
  
"No!"  
  
"You're lying to us now!" shouted one girl.  
  
My eyes darted wildly around like a cat caught in a corner by dogs - and that's what I felt like! Trapped.  
  
"You're making all this up(" I was yet again rudely cut short when I was so gently slammed into the plastered wall. I saw the dust and bits of broken off plaster fly as my weight whammed down.  
  
I felt a light sprinkle of pain run up my spine and then down again like children on a helter skelter.  
  
Einstein slammed his fist deep into my stomach with a well-aimed upper cut. On impact I literally felt my gut scream in agony.  
  
Hope took control of the group like a shepardess controlling her subservient sheep.  
  
"You lot find some white spirit and chuck it over anything flammable - but don't get it on yourselves!"  
  
The sheep complied while the shepardess over saw. Lazy cow.  
  
I was too winded to tell them how bloody stupid they were being and that they were being led around like donkeys.  
  
Plus I was a little busy being beaten into a pulp. A hard slap to my left cheek and one to my right (I felt my jaw dislodge somewhat), another hit to my abdomen and a knock on the nose. Blood poured out of my smell receptor and my assault was stopped. With a nod from my former friend Hope, I was chucked out of the open door.  
  
My bag was turfed out shortly after, having been looted of all cash.  
  
Then something totally unexpected happened. Hope grabbed a bottle of the combustible liquid and emptied it out onto the corridor before I could scramble out of the way.  
  
My cuts that had been opened while I was thrashing around during my pounding practically hissed and stung in fury when the chemical invaded them.  
  
My clothes soaked up the fluid speedily and pretty soon I smelled badly of the pungent stuff.  
  
Before the door to the room that was shortly to be an inferno was shut I heard someone say, "Now maybe we'll all be rid of her."  
  
The comment hit me like a ton of bricks and it stung worse than my slashes did.  
  
In a daze I scrambled to get up and leave the school. I slipped over in the puddle and landed front down in the white spirit. I had to get out of here. I had to get away from everything, and besides, if I got caught in the blaze I would go up like a match.  
  
In a stupor, I got up carefully and started to walk away, just like I'd always done.  
  
I stopped when I reached a fire alarm point, and paused.  
  
Should I set it off?  
  
My conscience battled for a second or two but the devil won out and I removed my finger from the 'press here to break glass point'.  
  
Why should I save this school of misery anyway?  
  
It's not like I cared about it and as far as I was concerned, it and everything contained inside it could go up like Hiroshima [RIP], as long as I didn't do it.  
  
And there wasn't even a fire.  
  
Yet.  
  
I turned and sprinted out of school as tears started to leak out of my cerulean eyes. Reaching my car, I jumped in and, not giving a flying fuck about seat belts, raced off home.  
  
My emotions had turned wild by the time I was home. Home to an empty house as per usual.  
  
"I'm so lonely," I muttered to myself.  
  
The words echoed around the vacant entrance hall and every ricochet of the phrase hit me hard.  
  
I stormed up the stairs in a whirlwind of crazed sentiments.  
  
I sank into the soft plush carpet and felt the guilt of leaving all those people to die wash over me in waves of passion.  
  
They deserved it though.  
  
Finding my knife was easy and before even bothering to clean myself up (I still had blood running down my face) I dragged the sharp steel across my bare skin.  
  
The feeling felt good and I watched my life's blood seep out of the single cut.  
  
But one wasn't enough.  
  
I slashed and slashed and slashed until my whole arm was lacerated in a big bloody mess.  
  
The pain was pleasure.  
  
The agony was ecstasy.  
  
And I longed for more release from all my troubles.  
  
Cutting would never be enough to liberate me from the shackles of life.  
  
After every slash I could still feel the isolation and the hurt.  
  
There was only one thing that could truly break the chains of life.  
  
And that thing was death.  
  
But how could I go out with a bang that would cause ripples in the puddle of life?  
  
How could I make sure everyone knew what degradation I had been through?  
  
It would take serious consideration but I knew I could do it.  
  
I was planning my suicide.  
  
And it was going to be big. 


	15. Sleeping Beauty

AN: I have to apologise big time for the length of time it has taken me to actually get this chapter out. I've just got back to school and the evil education system is slowly taking over my free time with, yes, you guessed it - homework! And don't I love it! So sorry! (  
  
Planning my death had been tough. I knew certain aspects I wanted in it, and I knew certain people who had to be there, but it was difficult bringing it all together. Waves of depression and angst kept washing of me and all my ordered thoughts were soon washed away.  
  
So I decided to sleep on it.  
  
And that, my friends, is the exact moment my death hit me (so to speak).  
  
The word 'sleep' had obviously jogged something in my bedraggled mind. I thought back several weeks to a point where all this fuss with Yamcha (his name still stung) had only just started.  
  
I couldn't sleep, so I did what most of the world would do at that moment. Headed for my bathroom cabinet, took out a small packet and induced some artificial sleep using pills.  
  
Sleep.  
  
It was exactly what I wanted to do now.  
  
Sleep and escape all of this madness in the world of dreams.  
  
Ten minutes later and it was all planned. I wasn't going to grace school with my presence tomorrow. I would drive to the mall. I guessed that would be where everyone was since the school had probably been burned to a crisp courtesy of Hope and co. I would get to the top floor, sit at the Starbucks*, drink my 'Amazing Mixture of Artificial Sleep', wait a moment, then slit my wrists and jump from the balcony. If I got the cuts just right, hopefully the blood would spray out and follow me as I jumped, kind of like the coloured smoke used in flybys. I had my method in my head and my AMAS in my bag so I decided to have a bit of a drink, mull over my great life and see what I decided next.  
  
* * *  
  
I blinked the fuzzy haze of my slumber from my eyes and glanced at my clock. The flashing red digits read 3:00.  
  
Only a little while left until my big moment.  
  
I got up and began to get ready.  
  
I had already decided what to wear the night before so I picked the white dress up from the floor and slipped it over cerulean hair and arranged it nicely over my body. Running my brush through I realised this was the last time I would do this, and for a moment my resolve wavered. At the sight of a photo of my old friends I had put on my vanity mirror, I steeled myself.  
  
It had to be done.  
  
My black, knee-high combat boots slid comfortably onto my feet and I stood from my bad.  
  
I picked up my bag and my room a glance over.  
  
There was my doll I'd got for my first birthday and the rocking horse that held so many memories of happy family moments. The picture of my friends was displayed so lovingly on my vanity and at the sight of it my eyes teared up.  
  
I brought my hand down in a sweeping manner and knocked it off, along with so many items of make-up I had used to hide my sadness behind and so many trinkets I had received from 'close friends'.  
  
Where were they now?  
  
The shattering of glass and scattering of objects only served to make me angrier.  
  
I left my room of recollections behind - then my house of suffering and climbed into my black Jaguar.  
  
Yes, I said Jaguar. "Ooh" all you want but it meant nothing to me! Just like life!  
  
I sped along the road, going 60 on a 30 mph stretch of road, but eventually had to slow as I approached a crossing.  
  
I glanced around while I was waiting for the light to change to green and realised I was next to my school.  
  
And there were people in it!  
  
That would have to mean someone had stopped the fire or something. I laughed when I realised the time. It was 3:45! School ended at 3:50. This was the perfect place to die. Everyone coming out of school would see my lifeless corpse. Everyone!  
  
I checked my mirror and saw no one was behind me, so I took my car into reverse and parked next to the school. The 'Amazing Mixture of Artificial Sleep' came out and was emptied down my throat. I would wager there was about twenty in the mixture, as opposed to the "Take two if over 14" rule.  
  
Then my sharp friend was removed from my bag and placed in my welcoming hand.  
  
I opened the car door, not bothering to shut it.  
  
"Deep breaths Bulma," I muttered to myself.  
  
Wow! I was talking to myself, so I must have been crazy!  
  
My feet went one in front of the other until I was standing in the front yard of the school, just five metres away from the door that in two minutes hundreds of students would pour out of to view my motionless body and bloodied arms.  
  
What fun.  
  
I raised the blade to my wrist, or I tried to.  
  
It took a few goes for my blurring vision to focus enough for my to actually find my arms.  
  
When I did, I slashed and slashed and slashed. Then onto the other arm.  
  
Ah well. I would have to cope with no jumping but who the hell cared? It was all the same now.  
  
Darkness crowded my vision and the last feeling I had was a mixture of satisfaction and hopelessness with a tinge of pain.  
  
AN: I have to explain the next chapter or so. I'm a pretty indecisive person and consequently, I can't decide which ending to do. There's the happy ending where everything end up, well, happy. Then there's the mostly sad ending that has a fluffy texture in it.  
  
I'll probably put both up so watch out. I don't know how I'm going to do it yet. :P 


	16. Confrontational Kisses

AN: Whoa! Nearly there! I know that I might have told a few of you that this would be the last chapter, but I have now spent so long actually getting my act together and typing it, that I feel guilty about not posting anything. So, you can have this bit of the chapter now, and the last part as soon as I can possibly do it. And I WILL make myself do it. (  
  
White is, as previously I have said, not a good colour. And as I have also previously said, it is not a good colour to wake up to. Personally I didn't think Hell would be like this - all white and clean, but what did I know? I was dead!  
  
As I blinked my eyes, attempting to somehow ease the brightness on my eyes, the door squeaked open.  
  
This place is so cheap! They can't even afford to oil the hinges! Where were the flames? And where was Satan?  
  
I should have known (with my luck) that I had spoken too soon.  
  
Vegeta walked up to my bed raised that Kameforsaken eyebrow of his. I noticed with interest that it now had a piercing residing within, and wondered whether or not his parents knew about it.  
  
"I see you've finally woken up."  
  
I was actually pleased with this seemingly rude comment, as I heard the barely masked concern that was floating just below the surface of it. Before I could think anymore on this or, in fact, how to reply to it, my mouth was open.  
  
"Sadly."  
  
I flicked my gaze up to see his response, and was fairly shocked at what I saw. His mouth was twisted into a scowl, the corners of it being pulled down so that his lips were so thin they were practically non-existent. You could see that his teeth were clenched tightly and I worried for a millisecond that he might shatter them with all the grinding he was doing. He'd gone red in the face and his vein that resided on his temple was throbbing dangerously. His eyebrows, instead of being raised, were forced down in absolute rage and his eyes were so narrowed they were like slits on his scarlet face. He looked angrier that when we had argued over the secret of his heritage!  
  
"Don't you realise how selfish you've been and how much you fucking worried everyone?" he roared, "I bet you think it was really clever of you to do this. How bloody stupid."  
  
My mouth hung open.  
  
What was I supposed to say to that? The idea of me killing myself had been to make them all sad and as hopelessly depressed as I had been.  
  
They were not supposed to get angry!  
  
I speedily formulated an answer to his tirade. I needed to say something to rid the room of the painful tension that was hanging in the air.  
  
"Did you say I've been selfish? What a joke! You are the ones who made my life a living Hell for months!" I hissed at him. "What did you want me to do? Carry on living the waste of time that my life is? You are all the ones who drove me crazy. You are the ones who made me cut myself over and over! You are the ones that pushed me over the edge! You are the ones who made me who I am now - the stupid, self-abused, useless, ugly bitch!"  
  
Every word I had said had cut him deep - I could see it in his pain-ridden face.  
  
And I was glad.  
  
"Stop it," he whispered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Stop it," he repeated louder.  
  
"Why? Don't like to listen to the list of your crimes against me?"  
  
"I can't listen to you insult yourself any longer. Stop it."  
  
"I don't understand. I thought you didn't like me."  
  
My sentence stumbled to a slow halt.  
  
He looked at me with a hurt face. He looked so vulnerable and lost. He reminded me of a lost puppy who'd just been told his owners abandoned him because they didn't love him anymore.  
  
Suddenly my mouth was painfully dry and I couldn't bear to look at him anymore.  
  
"Bulma." he started.  
  
He's going to say he hates me - I know he is, I thought to myself.  
  
I heard him take a deep breath, as he prepared to tell me that he hoped I had died.  
  
"I love you."  
  
Well, I can tell you for sure that that was a teeny weeny bit of a shock for me. Him loving me? What a joke!  
  
"You do?"  
  
He mumbled something that I couldn't make out.  
  
"I don't believe you then."  
  
He looked up at me with disbelief in his eyes.  
  
"Say it again and I might believe you."  
  
I smirked at him.  
  
He was perched on the edge of the chair and looked liked Road kill trapped in the paralysing glare of headlights. His face was a mixture of relief that I hadn't just yelled at him and stress. He looked like he could do with a constipation tablet or two.  
  
I loved having that reaction on him. It was so clear he had no idea what to do.  
  
Then his face cleared and he smirked.  
  
"Fine. Silly woman," he paused and took a deep breath, "You better remember this moment because it will not be happening again. I, Vegeta no Ouji, love, you, Bulma Briefs. Happy now?"  
  
I nodded, wide eyed and with tears of happiness streaming down my face.  
  
He leant closer to me.  
  
I leant closer to him.  
  
I could barely control my shaking, as our lips gently touched. The feeling I got was like electricity. I became breathless as our kiss deepened.  
  
We now had our arms wrapped tightly around each other, and although, to an outsider, our kiss looked only to consist of lust, it was the most loving, tender kiss the World had ever seen.  
  
Little did I know, that there actually was an outsider watching us. As every second of our kiss passed, his anger grew, until he could not bear to watch any longer. He stormed away, with only revenge in his mind that was clouded with rage. 


	17. See you at the Bitter Sweet End

I woke up to yet another disgusting hospital breakfast - soggy, burnt toast and a glass of orange juice (100% not real fruit!). Things looked bleak for that morning - boring even. That was until Vegeta turned up at bearing one large, obtrusive book.  
  
"What's that Veggie?" I questioned, always the curious cat.  
  
"Don't call me that. To answer your question, it is a book of Saiyajin heritage. I thought you should know at least something about my bloodline. You better appreciate it. It took me a Hell of a long time to find it."  
  
"Cool Veggie."  
  
It was a very nice feeling I got then. He'd thought of me! Someone had gone out of their way for me. I smiled gratefully at him and gestured towards the chair by my bed.  
  
He sat himself carefully down and I took the book from his hands. Within minutes I had flipped my way through the book, skim reading various bits of information.  
  
"Wow," I mouthed, as I signalled at a particularly detailed image of some place on Vegeta's planet.  
  
"This is the Imperial Palace on Vegetasei. It's where I live."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then which window's yours?"  
  
"My windows look out on to the gardens."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
I had already moved onto the next page and was furiously scanning my eyes over the foreign lettering, trying to understand just a little of what the book was disclosing.  
  
I indicated two figures in an important looking position. Their left hands were placed on the others heart and their other hand was placed over the heart on their own chest.  
  
"That is the proper way for mates to stand in their mating ceremonies and at any important moments between them. It's the expression of their feelings for the other."  
  
"Mate?"  
  
"It's the equivalent of marriage on this planet except not so soppy."  
  
"So it's more formal or what?" I questioned.  
  
"Mating is on a much deeper level than marriage. Every person is born with a certain mate. Sometimes these mates are killed or for some reason they do not come into existence and sometimes the mating between two people is not approved of so another more suitable mate is found by matching up what can be gained from the mating."  
  
"But that's not fair!" I interrupted.  
  
"Shit happens, woman," he stated, before carrying on, "When the mating is approved, a mating ceremony is organised. Basically, it involves the two standing in front of lots of people, declaring they're mates and mingling blood. This represents the two families joining. It's not necessary to have the ceremony to become mates. The bond formed between the two will overcome all - it lasts beyond death and there is no way to sever the bond. This is why courting between two Saiyajins is usually watched very carefully - to stop a bond forming between two Saiyajins before the mating can be approved."  
  
"What's this bond?"  
  
"Every being has a bond between them. The bond I speak of is when the link between the two goes beyond normal and into a bond where the two minds join to become (more or less) one mind. They both know the other mate in every way. Nothing is secret. This is why we Saiyajins don't need to tell our partners we love them - they will know through the bond. The bond can vary in strength between different sets of mates. Arranged bonds are usually  
  
weaker. The stronger the bond, the more complete the connection. In the strongest bonds, if one saiyajin dies the other will soon follow from the pain of the loss. Life will not be worth living without the deceased mate but the bond will not cease to exist. It will simply follow them into he Afterlife."  
  
"That's amazing."  
  
"I suppose."  
  
I spent an hour or so more examining the book and Vegeta spent an hour or so more answering my monotonous questions.  
  
"So Vegeta."  
  
He looked up at me with a bored, tortured expression, obviously sure I was going to ask him to explain what exactly the 'Whip of the Five' was and what it did again.  
  
"When are you gonna get me some lunch?"  
  
He raised his eyebrow that seemed somehow sexy now I thought about it.  
  
"Where's the cafe then?"  
  
I wrapped my arms around my stomach and made an expression similar to that of a sick cat.  
  
"No more! Please don't make me eat anymore of their crap Vegeta! Save me from chips and genetically modified fish fingers! Save me from out of date fizzy drinks! Most importantly - save yourself!" I pleaded.  
  
My tirade against the hospital food earned me a glare from the nurse who was checking my water jug was still full.  
  
He dug his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. He quickly rifled through his cash and then asked me what it was I wanted.  
  
"Mc Donald's, please."  
  
"I thought you didn't want GMed food."  
  
"Stop being smart and go fetch me my cheeseburger, regular fries and large coca-cola!"  
  
He rolled his eyes at my impatience, bent down and kissed my cheek then left the room.  
  
I leant back into the pillows and sighed. Maybe I had been wrong to attempt suicide. Maybe I could have gotten through everything. I cast my mind back to the events of the past year. I frowned as I remembered the pain I had felt and I eventually had to stop myself from losing myself to the pain that was starting to lap at my feet.  
  
The opening of the door drew me back from the edge of the abyss. It was only the nurse, but I was thankful for her interruption.  
  
"I'm going to check and replace your dressings now Bulma. If you could just hold still, please."  
  
I nodded, still feeling slightly dejected at my earlier thoughts.  
  
She (Sister Mindy) manoeuvred herself to the left of me and started to undo the bandages wrapped securely around my left forearm.  
  
I took a deep shaky breath as my wounds were revealed to the World.  
  
At that exact moment of exposure, Vegeta entered the room. I kept my eyes focussed forward. I couldn't bear to see the look of pain that I knew was gracing his perfect features. He sat himself down and said nothing.  
  
Sister Mindy picked up my arm and tilted it this way and that to examine the cuts, oblivious to the situation in the room.  
  
She redressed my left arm and moved onto my right arm, and was finished in a matter of minutes.  
  
"Everything looks fine at the moment Miss Briefs. I'll recheck your wounds in two days."  
  
I gave a stiff nod and she left the room.  
  
I sat absolutely still, hoping that something would stop anything uncomfortable from happening.  
  
I tensed as Vegeta drew a breath to speak.  
  
"I couldn't get you a large coke so medium will have to do."  
  
"Thanks. Err. This is going to sound silly but aren't you going to say anything?"  
  
"About?"  
  
I flicked my gaze to my arms.  
  
"I've already seen them woman."  
  
"When?"  
  
2When I brought you to hospital."  
  
"You did that?"  
  
I bit my lip in astonishment.  
  
"Yes I did. I pushed my way through the crowd, aiming to go home and then I saw you lying there in a crumpled, bloody heap," he seemed to glaze over as he recalled the moment he had spotted my body, "I rushed over to you and rolled you onto your back and, Kami, you were so pale and cold. You had huge slashes up your arms and you were lying in a pool of your own blood. So I wrapped you up in my jacket and flew you here."  
  
I threw my arms round his neck and hugged him as tight as I could manage.  
  
He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. I could feel the tears running down my face as I whispered thank you into his ear again and again.  
  
He picked me up and placed me back on the bed, before climbing next to me.  
  
He rewrapped his arms around me and we lay like that for a little while longer.  
  
I lifted my head up from the very comfortable position it had been in (namely, resting on Vegeta's well muscled chest) and kissed him. I gazed up into his obsidian eyes and smiled.  
  
For the first time in ages, I felt happy.  
  
Nothing else mattered except the moment I was sharing with Vegeta.  
  
Nothing else mattered except for Vegeta.  
  
I blinked and felt something click. I wasn't sure what it was but Vegeta gave me a knowing smile.  
  
He propped himself up on one elbow, leant over me and kissed me. Everything was complete.  
  
Then my perfect moment was shattered.  
  
The door flew open and then slammed shut. I peered over Vegeta and saw Yamcha, standing by the now completely blocked doorway.  
  
"Hi Yamcha," I ventured, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"More like what the Hell is he doing here?" Yamcha demanded, gesturing to Vegeta. "You shouldn't be with him Bulma - you should be with me!"  
  
My temper was failing pretty quickly. Who the Hell did he think he was, telling me that?  
  
"You're the one who cheated on me Yamcha!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"I don't want you anymore Yamcha! You cheated on me. You left me when I needed you and now I've moved on!"  
  
"But you still love me!"  
  
"How do you figure that?"  
  
"I know you do! Just tell me."  
  
"I don't. I'm not going to lie to you! In fact, I near hate you!"  
  
"Take that back right now!"  
  
I raised my eyebrows in shock and glanced at Vegeta, who had stayed silent so far. I stood up from the bed and Vegeta followed.  
  
"No."  
  
"Do as I say and take it back Bulma. Just tell me you love me and I'll spare you."  
  
"Spare me from what?"  
  
"This."  
  
Yamcha removed a gun from inside his coat and took aim at Vegeta.  
  
The World was deathly silent as I realised what exactly it was Yamcha was going to do to the love of my life.  
  
The bang resounded in my ears and I think I screamed but I can't remember anything definite from that moment.  
  
I looked down and Vegeta was lying on the floor with blood pouring out of the gunshot in his chest. He looked up at me and I could see the absolute agony in his eyes.  
  
I knelt down beside him and started to cry - I didn't know what to do. I bent over Vegeta's head whilst trying in vain to stop the blood from gushing out.  
  
"Tell me you love me!" Yamcha screamed at me. I looked deep into his eyes and I could see the fury burning there.  
  
"No," I whispered, "Never."  
  
An explosion of pain ripped through me as a bullet entered my body. I fell forward onto Vegeta, who was slowly losing consciousness.  
  
I raised my left hand and pulled his left hand onto my chest. I wrapped my free hand over his and kissed him.  
  
Another gunshot went off in the background but I hardly noticed. I guessed Yamcha had shot himself, but I didn't care about him (or only that he would burn in Hell for stopping my love in its footsteps before it could truly bloom).  
  
"I love you," I whispered.  
  
"I love you too," he murmured. This would be the last time he ever said those words and I treasured them. I realised I would never say that phrase to my soul mate ever again as well.  
  
Soulmate.  
  
It suddenly clicked that Vegeta had known we were now mates. I had felt us join just five minutes ago. I was finally content.  
  
Vegeta opened his eyes one last time and I threw myself into his gaze and was lost myself.  
  
"Forever."  
  
My lifeblood ran onto the hospital floor, merging with the Vegeta's and creating a swirling pattern of crimson.  
  
It was over.  
  
AN: I'm so sorry I didn't get this done sooner like I promised, but my computer  
  
caught a virus and I'll have to have everything replaced. It's Hell! I  
  
can't even check my e-mails! I guess that I kind of didn't want to finish it anyway. That's it from me for a little while. Scary!  
  
Thanks to everyone who bothered to read, review or have input into this fic.  
  
Hopefully I'll come up with something new and original but we'll have to  
  
see where my imagination takes me.  
  
Mow wow  
  
PS My friends say hi too. 


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